How is saved data managed with apps?

[arvark]

Hello, I've got a question, how is saved data managed with android apps and windows programs? Do they use encrypted files or encrypted databases? 

I'm in Grade 13 (last year of HS in my country) currently studying IT, last year I've worked with Java and we'd save and load data from a file (be it txt or some other format, so basic stuff), this year we're working with databases and I'm wondering, common android apps or windows programs that rely on the device itself to keep the data, do they save it in a local db or do they just save stuff in an encrypted file? 

[Sauron]

It depends on the app, you can do it however you like.

[vorticalbox]

2 hours ago, arvark said:

do they save it in a local db or do they just save stuff in an encrypted file? 

I personally would use sqlite if you need to store data locally, if you need to get that data across multiple device then use a jostled database behind some sort of api

[straight_stewie]

3 hours ago, arvark said:

do they save it in a local db or do they just save stuff in an encrypted file? 

At the end of the day, all that a database is is an interface or application that abstracts the storing of data in a file away from you. All long term data on a computer is stored in files.

The selection of which to use for the specific part of the specific application you are working on is, no pun intended, application specific. (I think that sentence has the most P's of any sentence I've ever written in my life )

[mariushm]

It depends.

It can be a SQLite database.

It can be an export of some memory structures, either binary (ex old DOC files are more or less memory dumps) or serialized (see for example json)

It can be CSV (comma separated values) or TSV (tab separated values) files.

It can be data formatted a specific way (xml, json etc), or specific formats like RTF (commands mixed with data) or PDF

It can be a collection of files which are then packed in an archive (zip) with a custom extension (all the office documents are zip archives)

 

Often some care is sometimes taken to include a versioning system or file format version ... so that an application can import a save from a previous version and export/save as a new version file.